Yesterday I fell off my bike carrying too much on the way home from our mailbox. It was a pretty hard fall, contents of my basket flying everywhere, and blood dripping from scrapes on my wrist and leg as I rode home.

Photo by Trish Southard

Share your load with others.

Todd would have been glad to swing by our box and pick up some of the bigger items on his way home from work.

Our family lost three loved ones in four years.

Multiple loved ones passing away or one is too much of a burden for anyone to bear alone.

Grief Group helped me lift my heavy heart.

Surrounded by people who have suffered the loss of a loved one, and a leader, the group gently persuades you to share your imperfect memories, portraits, all while putting you at ease.

Our leader had us write letters to our loved ones sharing that we wished they would have remained alive longer, our anger that they missed an important event, regrets, anger and how lonely we feel without them. We then read those letters at the cemetery or somewhere significant to the two of us. We then burned or buried the letters.

Somehow I felt lighter and more at ease with each letter.

In the Jewish faith when a loved one dies, they sit Shiva for seven days.

They stay home and allow others to listen to them, care for them, and bring them food.

When others are in pain, you will find yourself more compassionate and confident to walk through it with them.

Toss flour around shredded sweet potatoes until coated. Add 1/2 chopped onion and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Set in the refrigerator until ready to fry and add two eggs to coat all before frying in coconut oil or similar high heat frying oil.

Fill up crock pot with water covering beans with at least several inches of water and cook on low overnight for 6-8 hours.

Seems like a lot of work, but I was bringing dinner over to a friend who comes down with migraines after consuming pork and she is restricting salt. The recipe is from HEB a food market in Texas near our home. The only changes I made to the recipe was to increase the bacon and use a crock pot instead of boiling on the stove for several hours. Canned beans contain trigger items for my sweet friend, but I love HEB Borracho Beans with Shiner Bock Beer.

The beans are just lightly sweet and perfect with eggs topped with basil leaves cut “chiffonade style” or thin strips with a scissors( a full leaf is too much for breakfast faire) and salsa in lieu of toast.

The meal I made for her had baked chicken and rice with a little chicken broth for flavor. The beans placed in a couple of mason jars.

This also is a perfect way to serve for a tailgate. I’ve transported beans unsuccessfully in my trunk, even placing the crock pot in box.

Pour beans into the jars, seal the tops and place in a pot with a hot brick (wrap in foil) and snuggle the glass with napkins. The beans are easily consumed with a fork, standing at your tailgate.

Our family has missed enjoying fried chicken together and we have been unsuccessful creating a mix that tastes like Mee Maws recipe.

We made fried chicken following directions on the package precisely and the chicken was scrumptious, making that wonderful crunch sensation as you bite into it.

The recipe I’m sharing takes the chicken to the level served in Virginia down in the country. Ready a bowl with two eggs and a little milk to coat the chicken in before dipping in the batter as per the box. We then rested the batter dipped chicken on a plate for 5 minutes, rolled it on a plate of the dry ingredients that come in the box, and re dipped it in the batter before frying.

Frying chicken is an art form in the south and I’ve found the key is not taking your eyes off it for a second or it gets too brown. Crispy fried chicken cannot be timed, it just has to look right and depending on how hot your oil becomes(most set the fryer to 375 degrees) my fryer broke so it was tricky to gauge the temp and fry.

We drain the excess grease off with old newspapers and serve hot or cold.

Set aside and pour 1 cup of chicken broth on the veggie mix as it cools and one tablespoon of peanut butter,(Natural Grocers has fresh ground nuts that the guys and gals there have sold me, it’s nutty good).

Pick up a pot roast this afternoon, and by tonight you will have a delicious prepared meal for friends and family for sunday dinner. Pull up a few carrots from your garden or find a bunch at your local market, slice a Vidalia onion and 6-8 red potatoes.

Just pour a bit of water on the crunchy meat slivers stuck on your pan, and bring up all the yummy brown glaze for a tasty gravy on your meat and veggies after removing from the crock pot. Deglazing(what I’ve described above) helps capture the flavor. Pour this gravy over the meat just before serving.

Place meat and cut up carrots, potatoes and onions in a crock pot for 6-8 hours on high. Gluten free goodness!

The Hebrew word ashrei, or blessedness comes from living out your life in accordance with God‘s will.

How do you know God’s will?

Everyday wake and immediately meditate on God’s word. Praise Him! Begin your day in adoration of God the Creator of all.

Pray about it, pray the verse for anyone your Father has placed on your mind.

This morning I prayed for you and my family and friends.

Here’s how it sounded…. Happy are the friends who follow my blog, my family, my friends they who do not follow the advice of the wicked or take the paths of sinners.

Prosperity and happiness depends on your willingness to live in obedience to scripture.

But the humble will inherit the land and enjoy abundant prosperity. Psalm 37:11 HSB

Humble in the Greek is translated poor in spirit — to be impoverished of self and concerned for the things of God.

What is God concerned about?

The world will tell you prosperity comes from a cooked pot of black-eyed peas on New Years Day. Our tradition in families differ, but cooking up a pot of these lovely legumes are a non-negotiable in southern families, ours is no different. I’ve misplaced my cookbook so this is my twist on the tradition.

1 pound of black-eyed peas

Soak and cook a couple of days earlier tossing off the dirt (your old self) and discard any particles(regrets) in the water.

Add a few small pieces of the leftover Smithfield Ham (Salt cured) before placing bowls on the table for your New Years Day Dinner.

Serve the simple dish with Udi’s gluten-free dinner rolls, and a salad.

Pull out all the stops with linens, candles, crystal and setting.

A humble dish and a table set for a King.

May you be favored and prosper in the New Year! May the Lord bless you in 2014 exceedingly and abundantly beyond your wildest imaginations!

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. Ephesians 3:14-16 HCSB

Thank you very much for taking the time to follow my blog in 2013. You have been a great blessing to me and I look forward to praying for you and writing more in 2014!